KILMARNOCK new boy Michael Nelson admits he couldn’t have envisaged a showpiece final and a place in Europe during his lonely slogs out in the cold at Scunthorpe.

KILMARNOCK new boy Michael Nelson admits he couldn’t have envisaged a showpiece final and a place in Europe during his lonely slogs out in the cold at Scunthorpe.

Nelson toiled through weekdays at Scunny for nothing, with his Saturdays spent on the sidelines.

But Rugby Park boss Kenny Shiels came to his rescue last month and the move north couldn’t have worked out sweeter for the Geordie.

Nelson now has a League Cup Final against Celtic to look forward to and the chance of qualifying for the Europa League in the SPL.

Ahead of today’s clash with Hibs, the 31-year-old said: “Even if the League Cup Final and the chance of playing in Europe wasn’t there, this would still have been the right move.

“I was fed up sitting on the bench or in the stand with Scunthorpe. You train Monday to Friday but if there’s no game at the weekend all you’re doing is keeping fit and I could do that in a gym.

“It’s pointless going to training when your manager doesn’t have belief in you.

“But the January window was coming up so I wasn’t just going through the motions.

“I’d even stay behind and do extra work to make sure I was as fit as I possible in case anyone came in for me.

“Now I’m in a final and while that will be a tough game, we can beat anyone on our day.

“Europe is a realistic target – although it’s not something that has been talked about. No one here is looking that far ahead.”

Nelson knows the dangers of looking beyond a single 90 minutes after a rollercoaster week for the Rugby Park side.

Their stunning victory at Ibrox was followed by a 4-0 flogging from Dundee United but the stopper loves the cut-throat nature of the SPL.

He said: “Because of the size of the league, one round of results can change the table dramatically.

“The swing in positions is a lot greater up here than it is in England and that’s something I’ve had to get used to.

“But that gives you a bit more of an incentive to win and if you string two or three victories together you can start to look at Europe.

“There’s something fresh to look forward to every week. Hopefully, that will bring the best out in me.”

Killie will need to be at their sharpest today because Pat Fenlon’s strugglers are fighting for their top-flight lives.

The midweek Tannadice trouncing won’t be preying on Nelson’s mind and he said: “We didn’t change anything in our approach from Ibrox to Tannadice.

“Sometimes you can have games when one or two players have an off day and the other nine or 10 will pull them through. But at Tannadice it was more like five players trying to pull the other six through and no one really emerged with any credit.

“Now we face Hibs and it’s sometimes dangerous coming up against a side low on confidence because they can be like a wounded animal and come out fighting.

“But we just have to start well and push them back. An early goal would knock their confidence even more.”

Hibs knocked Killie out of the Scottish Cup earlier this month but Nelson said: “This match is not about revenge.

“If you gave me a choice between a win in the league and one in the Cup then I’d take the points. I’m sure Hibs, in their position, would too.”